DENIS ZAKARIA

The Gladbach powers-that-be are quite rightly expecting a bumper pay day when they sell their much-coveted midfield anchor man. Tracked by a number of leading clubs in England, the 23-year-old has a market value of at least €50million – and if such a price were paid it would make him the club’s most expensive sale of all time, surpassing the €45m that Arsenal spent on his fellow Swiss international Granit Xhaka in 2017.

While most would have to agree that Xhaka has hardly set North London alight, the Geneva-born Zakaria is cut from a decidedly different cloth. He is much cooler under pressure, does not have Xhaka’s defensive frailties and is a better all-round footballer and athlete, full of running, accurate in his passing and a beast of a ball-winner. With his all-action style and long limbs he looks

“He is the complete player and yet still has a lot of unfulfilled potential”

Marco Rose

a new-millennium version of former France and Gunners great Patrick Vieira.

Zakaria, who joined Gladbach from Young Boys of Berne three years ago, is the one individual the German side cannot do without. In the absence of the son of a South Sudanese mother and Congolese father, the system put together by coach Marco Rose would simply fall apart. If you want power, tempo and intense pressing, Zakaria is your man. He provides the glue which holds it all together.

One part of his armoury which often goes unnoticed is his speed over the ground. In-house tests at Gladbach revealed him to be the quickest player in the squad as he recorded an impressive 34.5km/h. Holding midfielders do not normally leave a vapour trail in their wake, but you need look no further for the reason for his extraordinary powers of recovery and his tremendous ability to snuff out opposition counter-attacks.

According to Rose: “He is the complete player and yet still has a lot of unfulfilled potential. He has unbelievable dynamism and understanding of the game.”

He has certainly come a long way in a relatively short time-span. A mere five years ago he was performing in the Swiss second tier with Servette. Modest and

humble, he absolutely deserves his current star status.

“I hope it will never be said of me that I’m a big head,” he told Swiss magazine L’Ilustre earlier this year.